Crucial moment

In the depths of the ancient mountain range's jungle, a middle-aged man was running at high speed. His speed was comparable to Xing Jue's speed after using the Gale Steps. The man's long black hair was tied in a bun at the back of his head, and on his square face were a pair of thick eyebrows and big eyes. However, there was always a strong murderous aura emanating from those eyes. This was the elder of the Netherworld Palace, the guy who had been tracking Xing Jue's trail all night.

Xing Jue had actually killed both of his Netherworld Palace elders. He himself was fine, but as the person in charge of this mission, he would inevitably be reprimanded after returning to the Netherworld Palace, so at this moment, he was extremely angry. After a night of searching, he had finally locked onto Xing Jue's location, so at this moment, his speed was even faster.

"Buzz, buzz, buzz."

But at this moment, two rays of light suddenly flashed in front of him. Upon closer inspection, they were actually two palm prints containing powerful energy, blasting towards him at this moment.

"Hmph." However, facing the two palm prints blasting towards him, this Netherworld Palace elder simply snorted coldly and did not dodge at all. He clenched his right fist and threw a punch at the palm prints. With a bang, the two palm prints were shattered by his casual punch.

"Get out here!" After shattering the palm prints, the man did not move forward. Instead, he stood where he was and shouted angrily in the direction from which the palm prints had been shot.

"Sigh, the nose of a Netherworld Palace dog is really sharp." After the man's angry shout, a young figure suddenly leaped out from the deep grass, jumping onto a tall tree trunk. This was naturally Xing Jue.

Xing Jue originally wanted to see who it was who had come looking for them, but after getting close to this person, Xing Jue felt the strong murderous aura emanating from him, so Xing Jue determined that this must be someone from the Netherworld Palace. In order to stop him from getting close to the cave, Xing Jue decided to make a move.

"Brat, did you kill the two elders of our Netherworld Palace?" the man asked coldly after sizing up Xing Jue.

"So what if I did? " Xing Jue said with a faint smile, not afraid at all. Xing Jue knew that even if he said no, this man would not believe him, because he had followed his aura here, so he might as well just come clean and be straightforward about it.

"Good, good, good. You do have some guts, brat. Not only did you not run away when you knew I was after you, you even dared to show your face. Are you really not afraid of death?" The man did not rush to attack Xing Jue, but asked with a sneer instead.

"Afraid of death? The words 'afraid of death' are not in my Xing Jue's dictionary," retorted Xing Jue, glancing at him and sneering.

"Oh, if that's the case, then I'd like to see if you're really not afraid of death, or just pretending." Hearing Xing Jue's words, the man's smiling face instantly turned cold as he said sinisterly.

Then he clenched his right fist and threw a punch at Xing Jue. Although this punch seemed simple, it emitted an extremely strong martial qi, and the intensity of this martial qi was actually no weaker than Xing Jue's Gale Palm.

"Gale Palm!" Of course, Xing Jue felt that this martial qi was very powerful, so he didn't dare to be careless at all. A Gale Palm, carrying streams of light, collided with that martial qi.

"Bang!" The light palm print collided with the martial qi, and an energy ripple was set off. Looking at the rapidly spreading energy ripple, Xing Jue couldn't help but admire the strength of a Martial Venerable. He could actually shatter his Gale Palm with an ordinary strike. This was the difference between levels.

However, at this moment, Xing Jue suddenly realized that the man had disappeared. At the same time, he felt a powerful force approaching him from behind. He didn't need to think twice to know that it must be that man.

"Hmph." Xing Jue snorted coldly, and with a leap, he jumped up from his previous position. At the same time, he turned around, and two light palm prints shot out again. At this time, Xing Jue also noticed that the man was standing where he had just been standing, and there was a hint of mockery at the corner of his mouth.

"Bang!" With a loud bang, Xing Jue actually managed to hit the man. Looking at the thick smoke in front of him, Xing Jue was overjoyed. But at this moment, the smoke suddenly dispersed, and the man shot out from the smoke at lightning speed and threw a punch at Xing Jue.

Facing the man rushing towards him at lightning speed, Xing Jue's expression changed drastically, because at this distance, there was no way for him to dodge the man's attack. He couldn't even move.

"Bang." There was a muffled sound as the man's fist hit Xing Jue squarely in the chest. Xing Jue felt a tightness in his chest, and a mouthful of blood surged up from within him and sprayed out of his mouth.

One strike hit the mark, and Xing Jue was like a kite with its string cut. He flew several dozen meters through the air before falling heavily to the ground.

"Ugh."

"Damn it, is this the power of a High stage Martial Venerable?" After landing on the ground, Xing Jue spat out another mouthful of blood and said in disbelief.

Xing Jue never imagined that the man would be so strong. He actually used his body to withstand the attacks of his two Gale Palms, and he could feel how powerful that punch he had just received was. If he hadn't circulated his martial qi in time to protect his chest, this punch would probably have sent him flying.

"What's wrong? Weren't you being all cocky just now? What are you going to do now?" The man slowly walked towards Xing Jue and said with a sarcastic smile.

Seeing the man slowly walking towards him, Xing Jue did not reply. Instead, he hurriedly circulated the soul power within his body and used soul healing. As the soul power continued to nourish him, the pain in Xing Jue's chest began to subside. After his body gradually recovered, Xing Jue clenched his right hand slightly, ready to use the Soul Slayer Sword at any time and launch a surprise attack on him.

"Tut, tut, tut. Cat got your tongue? I thought you were something else since you managed to kill two of my Middle stage Martial Venerable elders. Turns out you're nothing but trash." The middle-aged man smacked his lips and said sarcastically. At this time, he had approached Xing Jue and slowly raised his right fist, ready to finish Xing Jue off.

But just as the man approached, a sneer suddenly appeared at the corner of Xing Jue's mouth. With a thought, he activated the Gale Steps. At the same time, the Soul Slayer Sword in his right hand also rapidly condensed into shape. He had completed this series of actions in a split second.

By the time the man realized something was wrong, the Soul Slayer Sword in Xing Jue's hand was already slashing towards him with a gust of wind. Seeing the rapidly approaching Soul Slayer Sword, the man also became nervous.

His arrogant attitude from before had completely vanished. However, the man reacted extremely quickly. After realizing something was wrong, he hurriedly dodged backwards, and black smoke began to emanate from his body. After the smoke billowed out, his speed increased dramatically.

"Hmph, as I thought, you're also relying on movement martial skills, huh?" Xing Jue said coldly in his heart when he saw the black smoke all over the man's body. The man had been so fast when he had sneak attacked him earlier that Xing Jue had guessed that he must also know movement martial skills, and he was right.

However, when he saw that the man had actually dodged the Soul Slayer Sword, a fierce look appeared on Xing Jue's face. Xing Jue clenched the Soul Slayer Sword in his right hand and began to rapidly pour the martial qi in his body into the Soul Slayer Sword. As the martial qi was poured in, the Soul Slayer Sword also emitted a black light.

"Soul Slayer Sword, Sword Qi!" With a loud shout, Xing Jue swung his arm forcefully, and a three-meter-long black sword qi shot towards the man at lightning speed.

The sword qi's speed was so fast that the man was practically unable to dodge. Seeing the rapidly approaching sword qi, the man also felt its terror. He hurriedly thrust out both palms and struck at the black sword qi fiercely. As his palms struck out, with his palms as the center, a layer of translucent crystal also emerged, and finally, it enveloped his entire body, forming a crystal shield. This was the defensive martial skill that the black-haired elder had used to save the stuttering disciple of the Netherworld Palace earlier.

"Bang!"

"Weng, weng, weng..."

After the black sword qi struck the translucent shield, there was an ear-piercing booming sound, and at the same time, a powerful energy ripple also rapidly spread out. This energy ripple even sent Xing Jue flying backwards before he crashed to the ground.

Although he had successfully blocked the black sword qi, it did not dissipate. Instead, it continuously pressed against the crystal shield. As the sword qi pressed against it, the shield began to make an ear-piercing scraping sound and continuously emitted dazzling sparks.

Gradually, the black sword qi actually began to shrink, but the crystal shield was almost completely exhausted. Finally, it completely dissipated, and the black sword qi struck the man's body fiercely.

"Bang!"

However, this time, the black sword qi did not directly cut the man in half like when it had killed the black-haired elder. Instead, there was a muffled sound after it struck his body, and then the man spat out a mouthful of blood and went flying backward before falling into the jungle in the distance.

"Did it work?" Xing Jue said uncertainly as he watched the man fly away at high speed and finally fall into the jungle. He didn't know if that blow had successfully killed the man.

"Ugh." But at this moment, Xing Jue suddenly spat out another mouthful of blood, and then he collapsed weakly on the ground. At this moment, Xing Jue's face was as pale as a sheet of paper, and his insides were a mess. He felt as if his entire body was about to explode. A heart-wrenching pain spread throughout his entire body. This was the consequence of forcefully using the Sword Qi.

In this state, Xing Jue couldn't even control his soul. All he could do was wait, wait for this heart-wrenching pain to gradually dissipate.

"Brat, you've got some moves." But at this moment, a voice that Xing Jue least wanted to hear suddenly rang out. Xing Jue turned his head with difficulty, and not far from where he was looking, that elder of the Netherworld Palace, a middle-aged man, was slowly walking towards him.

At this moment, the middle-aged man was also in a sorry state. The clothes on his body were mostly torn, and there was a deep wound on his chest. A large amount of blood was continuously flowing out of it. That was naturally caused by the Soul Slayer Sword's Sword Qi.

At this moment, the man was limping towards Xing Jue, the murderous aura in his eyes extremely strong. As a High stage Martial Venerable, he had been made to look so pathetic by a High stage Martial Lord and had almost lost his life. How could he not be angry?

However, looking at the man who was getting closer and closer, Xing Jue was unable to resist at all, because his body could no longer move. All he could do was watch helplessly as the man walked towards him step by step.

One step, two steps, three steps. Every step made a heavy sound, as if the Grim Reaper was approaching. At this moment, the man's hand was covered with a silver-white glove. That was the Netherworld Palace's Earth ranked martial skill, the "Death Glove."

He was going to give Xing Jue the most vicious blow. He would not give Xing Jue any chance to turn the tables. His goal was very clear, that was to make Xing Jue die.

"Thump." With a heavy footstep, the man finally arrived in front of Xing Jue. Xing Jue looked at the silver-white glove that was emitting a dazzling light in the man's hand, and a sarcastic smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"Brat, die!" Seeing that Xing Jue could actually still smile at this time, the man yelled angrily and raised the Death Glove in his hand, smashing it fiercely towards Xing Jue's head. He was going to smash Xing Jue's head to pieces like a watermelon. Only in this way would he be able to quell his hatred for Xing Jue.

"You're the one who's courting death!" But at this moment, a sharp female voice suddenly rang out. At the same time, a powerful martial qi also shot towards the man at lightning speed. Before the glove in his hand could land, it was struck and sent flying by the powerful force.

Just as the man fell heavily to the ground, he scrambled to his feet in a daze, only to discover in astonishment that at this moment, a stunningly beautiful woman, dressed in a black dress, with a seductive figure, was descending from the sky and finally landed gracefully beside Xing Jue.